TSA Can (And Will) Unwrap Any Christmas Presents They Feel Are Suspicious—Here's How To Avoid It

Holiday flyers, beware! If you're hopping on a plane with wrapped presents, you might be in for a rude awakening upon getting to security at the airport—and not just because of the insanely long lines (which reminds me, you can get TSA Pre✓ for that.)

Who knows, maybe there are a few Grinches employed by the TSA attempting to sabotage Christmas, but for the most part, let's give them the benefit of the doubt, shall we?

According to the TSA website, "What we hope you understand is that if your wrapped gift triggers an alarm, the gift might need to be unwrapped for TSA officers to resolve the alarm." Fair enough, right? To avoid this entirely, TSA suggests you simply...well, don't. That or at the very most use a gift bag and tissue paper instead so they can easily see inside without having to rip anything apart.

And yes, if you’re traveling with a snow globe, it must comply with the 3-1-1 liquids rule. If you're not sure whether your snow globe is more than 3.4 liquid ounces (or 100 ml), they say, see if it's smaller than a tennis ball—if it is, you're probably safe, otherwise put it in your checked bag.

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